


Two Broken Souls

by roymaster45



Category: RWBY
Genre: Angry Sex, Angst with a Happy Ending, Casual Sex, Emotional Winter Schnee, F/M, Family Issues, Hurt/Comfort, Implied Sexual Content, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Implied/Referenced Sexual Assault, Past Relationship(s), Sort Of, Supportive/Protective Qrow Branwen, Volume 3 (RWBY), pre-fall of beacon, references to other characters - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-14
Updated: 2020-07-14
Packaged: 2021-03-04 17:30:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,544
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25270135
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/roymaster45/pseuds/roymaster45
Summary: A quickie I wrote about Qrow and Winter having a quickie.Takes place a day or two (or three, or... you get the idea) after the courtyard fight in Volume 3.
Relationships: Qrow Branwen/Winter Schnee
Comments: 2
Kudos: 12





	Two Broken Souls

**Author's Note:**

> This story contains PG-13 sex and swearing, along with references to past abuse and sexual assault. If any of that is something you're not comfortable reading about, please do not proceed any further.
> 
> All characters are 18 or older and belong to Rooster Teeth.

When Qrow Branwen heard the knock at his door, he looked up in surprise.He was staying at a shabby hotel in Vale, and the _last_ thing he expected was visitors.His nieces and their friends were all busy with the Vytal Festival, Ozpin and Glynda had their hands full… beyond that, Qrow didn’t have many friends in the city.Nevertheless, he got up and set his half-finished drink — first one of the night, surprisingly — down on the table.

Approaching the door, he reached for Harbinger and held it loosely in his hand.Staring through the little peephole on the wood, he saw a familiar white bun and a set of sharp blue eyes. With a sigh, he set his weapon down and opened up the door.

Almost immediately, he was pinned against the wall as Winter assaulted him with kisses, kicking the door closed with her foot.Qrow’s surprise lasted for only a second before he grinned and returned the gesture, wrapping his arms around her shoulders.When they eventually broke apart, he asked, “Whatever happened to foreplay?"

“As far as I’m concerned, everything that happened in the courtyard and Ozpin’s office was foreplay, asshole,” she shot back with a wry grin.Before he could reply, she started making out with him again, yanking off his cloak and jacket.To return the favor, he pushed her further into the room until she fell onto the bed with a surprised yelp.As she began working feverishly on his shirt and pants, he started to remove her coat and blouse.When he saw her lacy white bra, he smirked.

“Does Ironwood let all of his little pets wear such fancy underwear?”

“Fuck you,” she growled.

“You’re just angry ‘cause I’m right.”

“…do I have to admit it?”

“Nah,” he chuckled as they continued to undress each other.

* * *

When they were finished, they laid on their backs and stared up at the ceiling in silence for several minutes.Finally, Winter asked quietly, “Are we going to talk about it?”

“About what?” Qrow replied, standing up and walking over to the mini-bar.

She rolled onto her side, propped her head up with one arm, and looked at him.“About the fact that we’re sleeping together after breaking up, particularly when my younger sister and your niece are teammates?About whatever our enemy’s forces are working towards?”

As he took a swig from his flask, she frowned and continued, “About your gods-damned alcoholism?”

“Nobody’s ever complained about it before.”

“That’s because nobody else sees how much it’s destroying your life!” she replied angrily.

“Get off my back!” he yelled, whirling around.

He expected her to have that usual stern, bitchy look on her face.When he saw her curl up into a ball, however, tears starting to well up in her eyes — suddenly Special Operative Schnee was gone.Now there was only Winter: the broken young woman he had met by bumping into her on the streets of Atlas one day… her eyes red from crying, her face bruised, her clothes torn at the sides…

The broken young woman he still loved.

_And you just reminded her of her father, dumbass.The one person she’s spent her entire adult life trying to distance herself from._

His expression softened as he set down his flask, held his palms up in surrender, and climbed back into bed, wiping the tears from her face.“I’m sorry.I know you don’t like it when I shout.”

“I’m sorry too,” she whispered.“I don’t mean to nag you.It’s just… Ruby clearly looks up to you.Yang as well, to some extent.I’d hate for them to have a bad role model as an uncle.”

“…my sister and I had our innocence destroyed at a pretty young age,” Qrow sighed, shaking his head.“I don’t want to coddle those kids.”

“We can be **_better_** than our parents,” Winter argued, the fear on her face intensifying.“We… we have to be…”

With that, she wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in his shoulder, clearly fighting back a sob.He rubbed her back for a few seconds before asking, “Like I always say — if you want to talk about it, I’m more than willing to listen.”

After a few long moments, she shook her head.“Thank you for the offer, but… it’s still not the right time.Maybe when the Festival is over.”

Qrow nodded, gently lowering her back down to the bed so they could cuddle.For quite some time, they simply laid there, savoring each other’s company.

Then he grinned and asked, “You want me to go get some dessert?The usual?”

Winter smiled weakly.While everyone’s perception of her as a stoic, cold-hearted soldier was generally accurate, there were two things in this world she had a soft spot for.The first was Weiss.The second was…“You know a good spot?”

“Yep.Used to go there all the time when I was a student at Beacon, and the owner somehow still hasn’t kicked the bucket.”

“Well, let’s get going, then,” Winter said as she began to sit up — only for Qrow to push her back down.

“Ah ah ah.You’re my Ice Queen… just lay here and relax while your knight goes out on your behalf.”

She frowned, but eventually acquiesced to his suggestion, contenting herself with staring as he pulled his clothes back on.Once he was fully dressed, he kissed her gently on the lips before leaving the room.

For a while, all she did was lie there and enjoy the sensations she felt: the coolness generated by the air conditioning, the weight of the blankets against her body, the rumble of cars outside.Eventually, however, her mind began to drift.At first, she thought of pleasant things — many of them involving her younger sister.But then, her reflections drifted to a darker place…

Winter sat up and clutched her head, trying not to think of all the times her father had hurt her.Soon enough, though, she couldn’t help but remember that one incident… how Willow had stood by and done nothing… and how afterwards, she had been ambushed in an alley of Atlas and—

 _Stop it, stop it, STOP IT!_ she thought, tears streaming freely down her face now.Suddenly, her Scroll began to ring, making her jump.She picked it up from the nightstand and looked at it — General Ironwood.For the longest time, her finger hovered over the “Answer” button.Instead, however, she set it back down and buried her face in her knees.

Eventually, she heard it go to voicemail: “Winter, where are you…… oh, forget it.You deserve a personal night every now and then.I just wanted to say I’m sorry for chastising you in the courtyard the other day.I’m sure Qrow goaded you into attacking him. If you ever want, I’d be happy to teach him a lesson… that’s all for now.I’ll speak with you later.”

Winter smiled thinly as she wiped her face with a tissue. _I don’t think I’ll need any help with him, sir._

After about half an hour, she heard the door open.Qrow was smiling softly as he came in, a bottle of milk in one hand and a paper box in the other.

“What’s with the milk?” she asked as he sat down, placing the box on the sheets between them.

“I’ve never been able to have dessert without it.Call it a quirk of mine.”

He unscrewed the cap and moved to drink from the container, but Winter stopped him.

“Before you do that, pass me a glass?”

He stared at her, surprised.Eventually, however, he did as she asked and passed her a cup from the kitchenette.Winter filled it halfway with milk, then handed it back to him.As they tapped their two drinking vessels together, she opened the box and smiled at the small dark chocolate truffles waiting within.She picked one up and popped it into her mouth, her eyes closing in euphoric bliss as she chewed on the sinfully rich confection.

“Mmm.Delicious.”

After they finished off both the sweets and the beverage, she mumbled, “I should go…”

As she stood up, she was surprised to feel a rough, calloused hand reach out and gently take hers.Looking back, she saw Qrow staring at her with an uncharacteristic expression of sympathyon his face.

“Stay with me… please.”

“The general—“ she started.

“When was the last time you did something just for yourself?” he countered, pulling her back into bed.“All I’m asking for is one night together.Tomorrow, we can go back to hating each other in public.”

Winter hesitated.She shouldn’t, right?This isn’t what good girls — or good soldiers — did.But he was staring at her with that beard stubble, and that spiky hair, and those damn eyes…

“……all right, fine.You promise me you’ll be here when I wake up?”  
  
“I promise,” he whispered as she let him wrap his arms around her protectively.“Get some rest.”

A few minutes later, he heard her snoring softly.Deciding he could live with having his clothes on, he reached out and hit the light switch with his foot before nodding off himself…

**Author's Note:**

> So... yeah. I know this is probably obvious by now, but I like to imagine that Winter acts like such a b-word in order to hide her traumatic/painful past. And that for all his drunken bitterness, Qrow is honestly a sympathetic and caring guy at heart.
> 
> Hope you all enjoyed! As always, (constructive) criticism and feedback is appreciated :)


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